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The Real World
2.1
The module lit on fire. It began to enter the atmosphere. Moving at 8 kilometres per second, it
was subjected to very serious aerodynamic heating and was on the verge of turning into a fireball.
Accompanied by an incredible roar, it crossed through the blue sky. The parachute opened,
thereby slowing down the module. But the speed was not reduced by much. Earth was rapidly
approaching. To soften the fall, a rocket was launched. On Earth, there was a huge splash, and
yet the successful force on contact with Earth was huge. A huge sand cloud rose. A ma.s.sive
crater appeared on the spot where the module was to land.
The side panels parted like pedals and became supports. The sand cloud settled down and the
hatch opened. Something fell onto the ground in a shock absorbing gel. This was the physical
body of Angela. Simultaneously with the landing, the transferred virtual mind awakened. With a
moan, she opened her eyes. She stood up. It was hard to breathe. She took a deep breath.
"Gha."
She coughed.
"What is this?"
She was breathing, but this wasn't the pseudo movement that accompanied a virtual body in
Deva. She had never breathed dusty air before.
"And this is what I have to breathe..?"
Disappointed, Angela brushed off the remains of the gel and stood up. She was in the deep
crater that was formed after the landing of the module. She could only see the walls of the crater
and the sky. A clear sky, a sky she couldn't even imagine. She thought that it would be covered
with dirty clouds.
Angela went up the slope of the crater. Before her was a vast open s.p.a.ce. Absolute
emptiness. There was not a single blade of gra.s.s growing here.
Although this was the specified landing point, there was nothing here except for rocks and
sand. Angela had become slightly upset.
"What a disappointment. I thought the real world would have at least something."
A world abandoned by almost all of humanity. Angela imagined this as h.e.l.l. Whatever she had
imagined, there was absolutely nothing. Nothing at all.
She began to move. She started stretching to check the condition of her physical body. It
seemed okay. She stretched out her hand to the ground and took some soil. It was different from
the virtual soil in Deva. There were too many impurities. She tasted it and immediately spit it out,
it turned out to be too bitter. Angela wiped her lips and threw away the soil.
She shook her hands and activated the mobile terminal present in the form of gloves. On her
fingers and palms appeared a projection. Each individual finger had its own switch, and a screen
was projected mid-air. To get access to the information from the virtual world anywhere was
problematic, but it was possible if one had a signal source at hand.
"Management, this is Angela Balzac. I have arrived on Earth. Do you hear me?"
Her support was provided by a battle station of Deva, located at an alt.i.tude of 220 kilometres.
The operator replied, "This is the management. We hear you."
"The equipment is ok. Where is my guide? He's not here."
"You are at the specified point of the meeting. Should the satellite track his location?"
"Yes."
The display showed a bird's eye view from a high sensitivity satellite camera. There were lines
of clouds of dust. Something was moving across the desert at a huge speed. It was a small
three-wheeled buggy. Behind the wheel was what looked like a man. There was little to
understand from the image. And yet the operator said.
"That is agent Dingo. He is located to the west by a kilometre from the meeting point."
"Is that so? I got it. Who is after him?"
Angela was wondering about the dust cloud that followed the buggy.
The plume of sand, stretching behind the car was too big. The image of the sandstorm was
increased. There were a lot of wriggling shadows. And the whole horde was chasing the buggy.
Even worse was that it was a horde of huge centipedes.
"Recognition is complete. Arthropods, a subspecies of millipedes, the name is sandworm.
Carnivorous. Threat level - B+."
Thanks to the nano-catastrophe, many creatures composed of organic and inorganic
substances had evolved. These centipedes were one of them.
"What is he doing over there?"
Angela took a digital monocle from her waist. She looked to the west. Ahead was the buggy,
lifting a wave of dust. Behind the wheel was a man. He wore a cowboy hat, goggles and a mask,
making his face difficult to make out. Thought it was far way, he noticed Angela and carelessly
waved his hand. The crowd of the ten metre long sand worms got closer.
"It's disgusting. Already have a problem?"
She turned around and went back into the crater to the landing module. She headed to the
cargo hatch, touched the sensor switch, pulled the handle and then turned. The sound of an
unlocking lock was heard and the hatch opened. The spherical object inside rolled onto the
ground. Keeping its own balance, it stopped and a cabin opened, the controls of which looked
somewhat similar to a motorcycle's. Angela sat down in the seat.
"Preparing the system."
Indicators on the monitor lit up one by one. The motor started up, the electronic equipment
gave some signals.
"Connecting to the interactive tactical control of Deva."
The display showed information about the startup system. Now, all settings had been
completed. 3D monitors displayed images of the external cameras.
"Excellent, now forward."
The sphere transformed into an anthropoid robot.
"Time to warm up a little."
Angela switched to flight mode, pus.h.i.+ng the pedals with all her strength. There was an ignition
of highly mobile nozzles at the back. With a huge roar, it flew high up into the sky. Angela
directed it to the pack of sandworms. She got closer to the escaping buggy, and Dingo, sitting
behind the wheel, sent her an air kiss.
"What a fool!"
She flew past Dingo's buggy and landed right in front of the pack. A cloud of dust and rubble
flew up into the sky, covering the sandworms. The ones up front started to flee, and confusion
began. With the help of the manipulators, she grabbed the sandworms. This was followed by
disgusting noises. She lifted it without difficulty.
"I don't want to use ammunition on these lowly life forms."
She launched herself at the next sandworm. The insides of their torn flesh flew into the air, they
seemed to burst. Angela used the grasped worm as a whip and hit its relatives with it. The body
of the creature just tore into pieces, so now the Arhan went into a frontal attack. It beat and
crushed them with brute force. The strength of the Arhan was overwhelming. And yet the
discouraged and frightened sandworms came back into the battle, they bravely attacked the
arhan. The captured manipulator was immobilized. However another manipulator was able to grab
them and throw them on the ground, literally crus.h.i.+ng the bodies of the animals. But still, the
sandworms didn't give up.
They persistently clung to the arhan and twisted around its whole body. It was what arthropods
are supposed to do. Angela tried to maneuver, her breath quickened.
"What's wrong with them… they won't calm down."
Whatever she did, their numbers did not decrease. The sandworms were like a hydra – it didn't
matter how many heads were cut off; they would always grow back. The arhan was still able to
move freely, but being entangled in insects, he was forced to stop. One of the monsters aimed at
the main camera of the arhan. Its huge mouth opened, the monitor showed lots of teeth, monster
saliva, and monster legs.
"Ugh!"
Inside the c.o.c.kpit, Angela screamed with disgust. And then a bullet hit the worm's head. Blood
rushed, the immobile ma.s.s fell to the ground. So persistent, yet it died from one bullet.
The camera fixed on the distant figure of a man. It zoomed in on the image. There was an
unshaven man. This was Dingo, but without his goggles and mask. On his shoulder was a sniper
rifle, he pointed to his forehead. Angela frowned but then understood everything. From Deva's
information, she was able to learn the name of the creature and its cla.s.sification, but not its
weakness.
Angela pressed on the pedals. With a roar, fire came out of the mobile nozzles. The arhan rose
upright. The sandworms clinging to it wriggled and fell. Although there were those that had not
unhooked yet, it quietly hung in the air. Rising higher, she opened the guns on her left hand. A
laser cannon appeared from that spot. The first shot lit a sandworm clinging to the right hand on
fire. It fell down. Then a second laser cannon appeared on the right hand.
On the fire control display, 3D models of the enemy were shown. Angela marked the worms'
heads with a finger.
"Carry out guidance on the target, movement forecast, ballistic adjustment. Automatic fire."
Following the instructions, on the monitor, the heads of all the sandworms were labeled.
"Done." The voice of the operator reported.
"I won't waste a single extra charge!"
Angela pushed on the lowering pedal. The laser guns on both hands started firing. The highly
concentrated energy beams hit the sandworms' heads precisely. She kept firing, changing her
position in the air. The laser beams of the arhan always hit the brain, even if it was a moving
target. This was war. No one could escape. All shots hit their targets.
"Not bad."
From a distance, Dingo observed with admiration. He returned to his buggy and took his radio.
